Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play the 20th game of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium on April 7.
Match Preview:
Mumbai Indians will be hosting Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the upcoming game of the IPL. The five-time champions, Mumbai Indians, are facing a tough time in the tournament, losing three of their first four matches. They were narrowly defeated by Lucknow SuperGiants in their recent outing. Nevertheless, they showed signs of comeback. Hardik Pandya took a fifer, Surya Kumar Yadav finally showed some fire with his back and now Jasprit Bumrah is set to make his comeback against RCB.
It is true that Bumrah hasn’t played cricket since the last Australian tour but the bowler would be eager to make his comeback in the IPL that too when his side needed him the most. So, all the eyes and hope would be on Bumrah’s comeback and performance against RCB.
Early in the season, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has shown itself to be a powerful force with two away victories, including their first victory in Chepauk since 2008. Only recently, a home loss to the Gujarat Titans stopped them in their tracks. However, a huge task lies at the Wankhede Stadium, where RCB has always struggled against the Mumbai Indians (MI), winning only three games and none since 2015. This season may be RCB’s most promising opportunity to eventually get past their Wankhede problems, as their batting unit is in superb form and includes four players who have already hit half-centuries.
Probable Playing XIIS:
Mumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Naman Dhir, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Jasprit Bumrah, 12 Vignesh Puthur.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Rajat Patidar (capt), 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Tim David, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Yash Dayal, 12 Rasikh Salam/Suyash Sharma.
Pitch and weather report:
The Wankhede Stadium’s pitch has been used for batting. The good bounce is used by batters to play strokes smoothly. However, as the game goes on, the red soil at the location guarantees that spinners will have some assistance.
Talking about weather, there are only 5% chances of rain.
Head-to-head record:
The Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have faced off 33 times. With 19 victories, MI leads the head-to-head record, while RCB has won 14 times.
Prediction:
Given Bumrah is making a comeback it will give Mumbai some extra confidence to win the game and find their groove back.
Where to Watch:
India: Star Sports Network, JioHotstar
Australia: Kayo TV, FoxTel Go
Bangladesh: T Sports, Toffee app
New Zealand: Sky Sports NZ
South Africa: SuperSport
Sri Lanka: Dialog
UK: Sky Sports, SkyGo
USA: Willow TV
Afghanistan: ATN
MENA: Cricbuzz
